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6 Best practices for ERP Implementations By: Rahul vyas
We all are a witness to the changing trends in the industry, where financial approvals for Dynamic enterprise solutions are not a major challenge anymore. In fact there are result oriented companies, offering enterprise CRM solutions & enterprise content management solutions, within committed timelines with unmatched quality.
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This makes your investment in a powerful software solution an explicit move, but all these efforts may go in vain if the implementation process of these costly yet cost effective solutions is not appropriate. Looking out for smooth and successful Enterprise Solutions Implementation strategy – walk these six steps towards success. Each and every implementation is distinct, each of them have its own complexities and challenges, due to all those technological and organizational changes involved in the entire process. You, my readers, here are thinking that how; six steps that are simple can be common for all ERP implementations.
These six steps that are derived from the best practices may offer you up to 90 percent implementation success rate.
Prepare a list of processes projected for automation Current issues associated with these processes Of course the people who are involved with these processes Expectations from this automation
Facts to be considered:
Knowing your configuration requirements would work as a steroid when it comes to implementation & adoption. Knowing the end users will give you the opportunity, through inventory, to decide on to who will be responsible for ensuring that the new solution runs smoothly.
The objectives may range from “Abolish Un-conventionality” to “Implement a corrective and preventive action process (CAPA), including”
Approval of CAPAs Approval of all related documentation Delivery Escalation Notification Routing Secure, centralized and web-based repository for all CAPA documents
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You are supposed to freeze most of these operational objectives in the initial days while opting for a solution. This gives you an opportunity to refine them furthermore at the time of implementation. It also gives those stake holders that change to know precisely what expected end results are and hence can redirect all the efforts to achieve these objectives. User Involvement, one of the biggest barriers, absence of which could lead to slow user adoption and in turn becomes a big hurdle to the success of Implementation. Human tendency is to not change the conventional ways of doing things, which make them feel comfortable. These incidents, though not pleasant, occur as end users are not able to foresee the advantages of automation. Facts to be considered:
Involving end users from the initial project days to reach out to that comprehensive user inputs becomes mandatory. This also empowers them and you to provide, and be a part of all those ongoing training sessions and knowledge transfers that bring all users on the same platform and unique thought process.
Apart from this, the ongoing trainings play a major role in engaging the users to the new software – bringing in that comfort level which they would compare with their conventional methods.
Lack of adequate support and involvement from senior leadership also is a barrier to the success of implementation. End users when see and realize that appropriate kind of support and commitment towards the project – they would project double the enthusiasm and level of acceptance to the implementation and change. This makes it all the more mandatory for senior leaders to articulate a business case for implementation for all users – to ensure that anyone and everyone is aware that adoption and change is welcome and supported at all levels – thoroughly. Assessing potential Risks is the next step towards making the implementation a success story. Technological changes, organizational changes and project complexities in any major implementation project, poses various risks related to people or software which are not that easily visible. These risks ranging from operational complexities – inadequate user experience – insufficient role clarity – and a lot of other issues have been the trademarks to a lot of software implementations. Hence, beforehand real time execution or implementation of an Enterprise Solutions it is really important to ascertain and categorize all potential risks that are likely to hamper implementation activity and its success. Risk mitigation or management is the need of the hour:
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Facts to be considered:
Identification and classification of potential risks and challenges becomes really helpful. Categorize them in various segments such as schedule – budget – operational – technical and so on.
List down all those risk and change management activities, well in advance, which will help you to implement necessary measures and actions proactively, resulting in minimal or no risk implications at all.
Identification – classification and risk mitigation procedures in place for all those potential challenges helps the implementation team to attain success smoothly. Being Resourceful enough is equally important as we have been witness to a lot of companies who have liberally done hefty investments for the new software, but end of day fall short while assigning sufficient resources in terms of follow up budgets and manpower, one of the needs for the success of any implementation project. The solution providers do supply and are bound to make arrangements for some primary resources instrumental for the implementation process, whereas there are enormous requirement of resources, may vary depending on the size of the project, which are to be sourced internally. In this fast growing economy, businesses tend to take up multiple projects the same time, giving rise to situations where these projects clash and compete internally for attention. All this cuddles up to lack of resources and support for any given project that ultimately fails due to these challenges. Facts to be considered: Sufficient resource planning or team building activity:
Building a team possessing requisite skills for the project. Non-labor resources that empowers the entire team to complete the project. Delegated Leadership becomes much more necessary as the management upon approving the purchase of the software solution, made way for priorities to shift and divert attention and resources. A leader would be the one to focus on end results – the success of the entire implementation process.
We all know, and face it in our day today projects/operations – that it becomes much more tough a task for us to make sound and informed decision if we are experiencing resources crunch.
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Expectation Setting plays a major role, may it be real life scenario or developing projects. Establishing a clear understanding about attainable goals among all the stakeholders ranging from executive leader to end user is important. A very good example, as you are not supposed to underestimate User Involvement, Assessment of potential Risks & Resource crunches, you also should be cautious about the time that would be needed to accomplish the project. What exactly happens is that a lot of fast growing organizations set over optimistic project go live dates – which are far from reality. However, we as seasoned project leaders should very well understand that balancing go live dates with other dependencies is a wise move, or rather is the only suggested move. Facts to be considered:
Realistic time frame will help you succeed when you give due weight-age consultation, validation and other services needed for seamless implementation
Managing expectations or setting realistic expectations and keeping them on top priority for all those involved in the project helps you in maintaining viewpoint across the project.
As project leaders we need to understand that finely designed timelines or implementation schedules falling in place since the inception may go haywire due to unpredictable circumstances. This is a clear indication that as the project evolves the implementation process should as well. Checks & Balances are supposed to be the integral part across stages of the implementation project; that includes once the solution goes live. The dynamism of software implementation is known to all of us. This makes it all the more important for us, the project leaders, to develop landmarks, observe and raise a flag about the progress consistently as and when required. This then should be followed with prompt actions to address the challenge – eradicate future occurrences and all this needs to be done while you maintain that good working relationship with the solution providers. Facts to be considered: Regular audits for milestones set throughout the project will be the key to ensure that both the service provider and the internal implementation team are on the same page and aware of their key responsibilities.
Regular communication with the service provider/vendor even after the go live stage about routine maintenance services, including technical assistance and software updates is beneficial – needless to say.
Implementations; though are said to be fast and prompt, take their own time. During this phase, companies’ priorities, leadership brass and fortune may or may not change. But these changes inevitably leave a undesirable effect on resource availability - solution requirements - executive support and user adoption. 5
The Article published: http://patch.com/new-york/smallbusiness/6-best-practices-erp-implementations
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